About us

Devon, Information, Advice and Support service (DIAS) supports parents and carers of children aged 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We also directly support young people with SEND.

It’s impartial. We aim to give you information about the options available, then it’s up to you to make the decisions. We won’t promote one option over another, unless there’s no alternative. We are also separate from Devon County Council’s other SEND services and departments.

It’s free of charge.

We talk directly to parents, carers, guardians, children and young people. We can also talk to professionals if parents or young people give their permission.

Anyone can access it. If you have communication difficulties or English as a second language, we will always do our best to arrange the right support. Some of our information is written in languages other than English and we can also produce information in large print if you need it. Please contact us if you need information in other formats or need more help.

It’s based on the law. All DIAS Officers have training about the legal areas of SEND support, EHC Plans and issues such as exclusion.

It operates on a first come first served basis, unless you need to speak to us urgently.

Confidentiality

All of the conversations we have with you are confidential. However, if there is a safeguarding issue, we may need to share some information. If we are inspected by Ofsted they have a right to look at the information we keep. Otherwise, we won’t pass on any information unless you give us permission to. If you want us to talk with other professionals for you, we will need your permission. Or, if a professional contacts us and asks us to speak to you, we will make sure they have your permission too.

Find out more

You can find out more about what we do and who we are on our support pages. There is information about DIAS Officers, Telephone and email support and face to face support.